Tag: COVID-19

Parents Struggle to Reach Newborn Surrogates in Georgia

By Pearly Jacob | Eurasianet | May 27, 2020

Georgia is an increasingly popular destination for commercial surrogacy, but COVID-19 travel restrictions have impacted surrogates, babies, and intended parents there as well.  The article reveals that at least 40 babies are stranded in Georgia without parents, 30 of them in Chachava Clinic, one of the oldest maternity hospitals in Georgia. The article also notes that surrogacy is unregulated in Georgia, has no system for recording births, and is only available to heterosexual couples with fertility challenges.

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International Surrogacy is not as Dead as You Think

By Alison Motluk | HeyReproTech | May 26, 2020

In this article, Alison Motluk presents a number of extremely difficult circumstances occurring with international surrogacy arrangements impacted by the COVID crisis. She raises issues of the well-being of babies who are institutionalized or cared for by surrogates as they await their parents in other countries; increased costs for intended parents trying to navigate border closures; and potential legislative changes that would change the international commercial surrogacy landscape in Canada and beyond.

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Are Surrogate and IVF Babies ‘Essential’ in a Pandemic?

By Amrita Pande | Mail & Guardian | May 22, 2020

In this opinion piece in South Africa’s Mail & Guardian, Amrita Pande raises the question of whether assisted reproduction is an essential service in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Pande notes how infertility professional associations in the US, Europe, and South Africa initially called for suspension of new or non-urgent fertility treatments in response to the COVID crisis, and then reversed course under pressure. She points to preventable causes of infertility in South Africa, disproportionate impacts on Black and poor women, and how public resources are going to private healthcare and high-tech individualized treatments.

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Assisted Reproductive Medicine in Ukraine Needs Legislative Regulation

Interfax-Ukraine | May 19, 2020

Olena Babych, a lawyer specializing in the field of reproductive law in Ukraine, calls for legislative regulation of assisted reproductive medicine in Ukraine, in particular surrogacy. Heads of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine report that a corresponding bill has been submitted to Parliament addressing assisted reproduction overall. Efforts are also underway to allow parents to come into Ukraine to pick up children born through surrogacy who are stranded in facilities because of travel restrictions due to COVID-19.

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Surrogacy Is Complicated—Then Add a Global Pandemic

By Daniela Prugger And Oksana Parafeniuk | Marie Claire | May 17, 2020

In the wake of a video highlighting the state of surrogacy in Ukraine during COVID-19, Arina, a surrogate in Ukraine, shares her experience in lockdown. She is 28 weeks pregnant and separated from her children in another city, and the intended parents are currently unable to fly into Ukraine due to closed borders. She lists a number of concerns, including how the pandemic protocols will impact her birth plan and who will care for the child after she gives birth.

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100 Babies Stranded in Ukraine After Surrogate Births

By Andrew E. Kramer | New York Times | May 16, 2020

This article not only covers the situation in Ukraine, where at least 100 babies born to surrogates are stranded in a hotel, but also provides background on surrogacy practices in a country at war and the poorest nation in Europe.

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Surrogates Left Holding the Baby as Coronavirus Rules Strand Parents

By Sirin Kale | The Guardian | May 14, 2020

This article features the stories of surrogates, intended parents, and children born through international surrogacy arrangements, whose circumstances have been drastically altered due to coronavirus restrictions. A surrogate in the US was asked by intended parents to look after the newborn after travel limitations made them unable to travel from China. An Israeli gay couple have been stuck in a New Jersey hotel room after flying with their four year-old son to meet their baby born to a surrogate in the US. Now they are unable to fly back to Israel because they cannot obtain the proper travel documents, and face mounting costs from their unexpected lengthy stay.

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Will 51 Mothers Ever See Their Babies Trapped in Coronavirus Lockdown?

By Anna Nemtsova | The Daily Beast | May 14, 2020

Since Ukraine has closed its borders to foreign travel due to COVID-19, the number of children born to surrogate mothers continues to rise. As intended parents are unable to travel to their children, BioTexCom, a surrogacy agency in Ukraine, has since released a video showing the rows of cribs in a hotel where babysitters are caring for 50+ newborns. Hundreds more will be born in coming months.  This article highlights how the lack of regulation in Ukraine has led to terrible conditions for surrogates, uncertainty for intended parents and children, and exacerbated conditions in lockdown.

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Gujarat: Babies Stuck in Surrogacy Hub, Parents Wait for Travel Nod

By Aditi Raja | The Indian Express | May 5, 2020

Among those stranded due to the coronavirus lockdown are more than a dozen newborns in Gujarat, India. This article highlights the Akanksha Infertility Centre, one of the biggest surrogacy facilities in the country, and how they have been dealing with the impact of the travel restrictions. According to the article, some of the babies have been waiting for more than a month for their biological parents to take them home. Staff and the NICU doctor are caring for them in the meantime.

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American Surrogate: 30 Months Later

By Gregory Warner | Rough Translation, NPR | April 29, 2020

In 2017, NPR ran a story of a Chinese woman who hired an American surrogate, what brought them together, and the challenges in their relationship. The original podcast is followed by interviews of the two women providing updates about their lives during the time of COVID-19.

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